Rating: 
Summary: Silly and funny in parts, subtle in others
Review: "Me by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente," Garrison Keillor's satire of Jesse Ventura, in parts is very funny. The degree to which it mirrors Ventura's "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed," which was written either after this one or contemporaneously, is scary. Keillor moves between being completely silly, which is when he's at his funniest, to a very subtle kind of satire which virtually copies Ventura's schtick. The subtle humor is the real satire, though the silliness is funnier. Keillor's point, I think, by inserting almost verbatim elements of Ventura's self-proclaimed story and rationale for entering politics in an absurd setting is to highlight the absurdity of the actual, "serious" Ventura and his supporters. The only problem with this is that the satire comes across as slow against the straight-out goofiness, such as Keillor's description of fictional professional wrestlers ("Mr. Disaster. His hair grew six inches per day; you could actually watch it grow.") On the whole, Me is funny and quick and is the best political satire I've read since Al Frankin's "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."
Rating:
Summary: Silly and funny in parts, subtle in others
Review: "Me by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente," Garrison Keillor's satire of Jesse Ventura, in parts is very funny. The degree to which it mirrors Ventura's "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed," which was written either after this one or contemporaneously, is scary. Keillor moves between being completely silly, which is when he's at his funniest, to a very subtle kind of satire which virtually copies Ventura's schtick. The subtle humor is the real satire, though the silliness is funnier. Keillor's point, I think, by inserting almost verbatim elements of Ventura's self-proclaimed story and rationale for entering politics in an absurd setting is to highlight the absurdity of the actual, "serious" Ventura and his supporters. The only problem with this is that the satire comes across as slow against the straight-out goofiness, such as Keillor's description of fictional professional wrestlers ("Mr. Disaster. His hair grew six inches per day; you could actually watch it grow.") On the whole, Me is funny and quick and is the best political satire I've read since Al Frankin's "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."
Rating:
Summary: Silly and funny in parts, subtle in others
Review: "Me by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente," Garrison Keillor's satire of Jesse Ventura, in parts is very funny. The degree to which it mirrors Ventura's "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed," which was written either after this one or contemporaneously, is scary. Keillor moves between being completely silly, which is when he's at his funniest, to a very subtle kind of satire which virtually copies Ventura's schtick. The subtle humor is the real satire, though the silliness is funnier. Keillor's point, I think, by inserting almost verbatim elements of Ventura's self-proclaimed story and rationale for entering politics in an absurd setting is to highlight the absurdity of the actual, "serious" Ventura and his supporters. The only problem with this is that the satire comes across as slow against the straight-out goofiness, such as Keillor's description of fictional professional wrestlers ("Mr. Disaster. His hair grew six inches per day; you could actually watch it grow.") On the whole, Me is funny and quick and is the best political satire I've read since Al Frankin's "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot."
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, not mean or substantial enough for some. A "nibbler".
Review: As a stand-alone read, this book is in many ways and places hilarious, and as a person without any previous experience of Keillor's writing, I recall being driven to laughter over and over again.
I do not think this book would bear cover-to-cover reading in the same way I do not think one should make a meal out of cake--taken in small doses (perhaps in the bathroom), this book is great fun--
--and AFFECTIONATE--even the main subject of this book would be, IMO, unlikely to take any offense at all. Those desiring political depth or biting and cruel satire will be dissapointed; I don't know if Keillor could be that mean if he tried, and I'm glad.
Rating: 
Summary: A hilarious romp by a writer having the time of his life.
Review: Every now and then, a writer discovers the perfect subject for his talents. That's the case with this book. I think Keillor must have written this book about as fast as his fingers could fly over the keyboard, because the nature of the subject matter allowed him--no, really encouraged him--to just throw caution to the winds and charge at his subject with gleeful energy. Keillor in the past has had trouble finding the right sort of persona to voice his sometimes acerbic observations on the Midwestern character. No such problem here. Like the real Jesse Ventura, Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente is a self-invented man. Like Ventura, Jimmy is a cartoon. He is much too large to be a real human being. His voice is not human. His behavior is cartoonish, over-the-top and extreme. He inhabits a world full of cartoon characters (the other professional wrestlers), all of whom stand for strange and spooky little corners of the human imagination. The "sport" of wrestling is a cartoon of good and evil, misdeeds and retribution. Jimmy Valente's war, Vietnam, was a cartoon version of an ordinary war. In other words, everything about Jimmy Valente is bigger than life, and that gives Keillor full license to let his imagination run riot. He never had to worry about being excessively colorful or bizarre, because his subject is so cartoonish that "anything goes." The result is a laugh riot, and clearly Keillor has no nasty agenda with respect to the extremely odd but oddly likable man who currently is his governor. One of the fun little jokes Keillor has is his inclusion of dialogue between Jimmy and his ghost-writer, Garrison Keillor. In those exchanges, Jimmy usually puts down his amanuensis with trenchant humor and a clear sense of who he is. I have not enjoyed everything Garrison Keillor has written, although I've enjoyed most of it. This book is just a treat. Read it when you've got someone around so you can can read to them some of the more outrageous lines.
Rating:
Summary: An uproarious, thinly-veiled (if at all) political satire.
Review: Garrison Keillor has done it again. He has a certain intangible touch, for lack of a better phrase, that lightens the hearts and minds of his readers and/or listeners. He could have written a biting, nasty critique of a man who probably doesn't belong in politics. Instead, however, he writes a heartfelt--yet almost objective--story about a man and his never-subsiding desire to do something with his life. One can, by reading "Me", tell how much fun Keillor had in writing it. The fun is not reserved only for the author, however. Read the novel, and enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Jealousy is a sad and terrible thing
Review: Garrison Keillor is jealous of the fact that Jesse Ventura is a much bigger celebrity than Keillor will ever be, so he trotted out this hastily written little screed. Not funny, and not interesting, which is to say, pure Garrison Keillor.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Satire: Lively, Descriptive, Funny
Review: Garrison Keillor's is a master of comparrison. He creates excellent word pictures with hyperboles and ellaborate similes and metaphors. For me, Garrison's writing style is a model. As for the content of the book, Garrison creatively and colorfully portrays the Governor without overly criticizing the Governor.
Rating:
Summary: Comic Relief Appreciated!
Review: I about fell off my exercise machine laughing while reading this book. Since the rest of the media seems unable to accurately profile to substance of Jesse Ventura, this book fills the void in the form of fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing.
Review: I expected better. Keillor comes off unnecessarily condescending and offensive. He has tarnished Minnesota's reputation for "Minnesota nice." I'm glad I checked this one out of the library and didn't spend any money on it.
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